Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room.
How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
This morning I observed a lesson at Exter-West Greenwich Middle School. I sat in the back of the room near the computer. I had never worked with these students before and was curious to see what the classroom dynamic would be like. I definitely noticed that this class seemed larger and more rowdier than others. I noticed that some of the students weren't listening to the teacher. How she brought them back was to call their name to grab there attention or walk near them, causing them to focus on their work. I noticed one student in particular. He seemed to focus for a few seconds and then get distracted by his water bottle or his pencil or anything other than what the class was working on. I mentioned my concerns later to my cooperating teacher. The student was a concern for her and currently being evaluated.
I noticed that the students seemed to be the most engaged when they were working with the hands on investigation. They had a brief lecture before that to give them some concepts and understanding of what they would be looking at and then were left to investigate themselves.
Reflection:
I think that hands on activities are a great way to engage students. The key to it is that the students need to have an idea of what they are doing. They need to have some prior knowledge or background information to pull from. Also engaging an entire classroom can be tough, but proximity and gentle guidance seem to work with this class. In my own experiences I have used proximity and the teacher look as a classroom behavior tool. I feel that they are both very effective tools.
Observation/Reflection #2: Eyes in the Back of Your Head: Observing Student Actions
From a seat in the rear of the room, observe your students and take notes on what they are doing while the teacher is presenting in the front of the room, while they are supposed to be taking notes, doing seatwork, and/or when they are working in the lab. Look closely at each student for a range of behaviors, and resist the temptation on only see what you expect. Note especially what is happening furthest from the teacher. What strategies are used by your CT to encourage students to attend and engage? Watch carefully how your CT moves around the room.How important is student engagement to your view of how you will teach? What strategies will you employ to encourage student engagement?
Observation:
This morning I observed a lesson at Exter-West Greenwich Middle School. I sat in the back of the room near the computer. I had never worked with these students before and was curious to see what the classroom dynamic would be like. I definitely noticed that this class seemed larger and more rowdier than others. I noticed that some of the students weren't listening to the teacher. How she brought them back was to call their name to grab there attention or walk near them, causing them to focus on their work. I noticed one student in particular. He seemed to focus for a few seconds and then get distracted by his water bottle or his pencil or anything other than what the class was working on. I mentioned my concerns later to my cooperating teacher. The student was a concern for her and currently being evaluated.
I noticed that the students seemed to be the most engaged when they were working with the hands on investigation. They had a brief lecture before that to give them some concepts and understanding of what they would be looking at and then were left to investigate themselves.
Reflection:
I think that hands on activities are a great way to engage students. The key to it is that the students need to have an idea of what they are doing. They need to have some prior knowledge or background information to pull from. Also engaging an entire classroom can be tough, but proximity and gentle guidance seem to work with this class. In my own experiences I have used proximity and the teacher look as a classroom behavior tool. I feel that they are both very effective tools.